With the Munster Senior Hurling Championship set to get underway this weekend, quite a few GAA fans will be intrigued to see how Waterford get on in this year's competition.
It has been a difficult couple of seasons for the county, especially since the return of Davy Fitzgerald. After poor season in 2022, it was hoped that the Clare native could help rejuvenate the county after his appointment for 2023.
Things did not go to plan, with Waterford losing their first three games in the championship and being eliminated in the group stage. As well as that, they will play in the second tier of the league in 2025 after finishing in the bottom two of Division 1A this season.
As a result, the pressure is building on Waterford ahead of the championship.
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GAA: Davy Fitzgerald baffled by rumours about Waterford team
Davy Fitzgerald has often proven to be a controversial figure in the GAA world, with some rumours circulating about an unhappy Waterford camp in recent times.
Speaking ahead of this weekend's game against Cork, he moved to dispel suggestions of discontent among the panel.
I got a text the other day ‘I heard you’re fighting with this lad and that lad’. What can you do, only laugh at it. I can’t do anything else.
If people around Waterford want to make up rumours, that’s fine. I’ve accepted that a long time ago. If I was beaten ten or twelve points in my league games and I was getting hammered, I’d have an issue but I don’t have that.
Can I stop the rumours? No I can’t. You know what, let them off. If we win on 21 April or 4 May, do you think those rumours will count for much? That’s the way I look at it.
If we lose, they’ll nail me no matter what the story is. I don’t really mind; I can’t do anything about it...
Player engagement is massively important where they can speak. I have to say that the environment feels unreal between management and players. As I said to them, we can’t help if there’s rumours.
We can’t do anything about that. We just have to let them off. We just do what we can do here.
It will be interesting to see if Waterford can improve over the coming weeks, although the strength of the teams in Munster this year means that this is certainly no guarantee.
It should be an interesting few weeks of GAA action ahead.
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